DraftKings MLB Picks For July 22

DraftKings MLB Picks For July 22

All 30 teams are in the main tournament tonight, and a staggering nine pitchers are priced over $9,000. Who is worth paying up for? Where are the bargains to possibly fit two aces on our roster? Let’s check the stats and see what we can dig up!

More from Fantasy Baseball

• 5 fantasy baseball waiver wire pivots to replace Triston McKenzie
• Fantasy baseball mock draft 2023, 12-team: Aaron Judge over Trea Turner?
• 3 fantasy baseball sleepers being drafted too late
• NBA DFS picks December 25: Merry Bucking Christmas
• Fantasy Baseball: Hot pitchers worthy of starting this weekend

NOTE: these picks are based solely on statistics. Some players have never faced their opponents, or have very little experience against them. I am not saying that none of those are good picks. The highest scorer of the day could be someone with no experience against his opponent. This is based on statistical analysis only. If you have a gut feeling, then by all means, follow that. This is not an exact science. The best lineups usually have a mix of proven stats and hot players.

Masahiro Tanaka has never faced the Giants, and he is going up against one of the best pitchers on the senior circuit. Tanaka has also struggled to a 4.71 ERA at home this year. The Giants offense wont strike fear into opposing hitters, but this is a tougher matchup for Tanaka, and a win doesn’t seem likely. That limits his value.

Archie Bradley has never faced the Reds, but his inconsistency makes him tough to use. He has given up five runs or more three times in 12 starts. If you have to use someone from this game, I’m more comfortable with Dan Straily. He has never faced Arizona, but he has turned in three straight quality starts in July.

Dylan Bundy struggled against the Rays in his first major league start. Don’t even think about using him against the Central-leading Indians.

Sean Manaea has never faced the Rays, but his 5.13 ERA paints a cautionary picture. He has turned in two solid outings since being blasted by the Twins on July 5th though.

Michael Fulmer has never faced the White Sox, but he has given up two runs or less in each of his last ten starts. He has given up just five runs in 50.1 innings pitched since Memorial Day. He may be due for a regression at some point, but I doubt it comes against the struggling White Sox.

Jon Gray had possibly the best start of his young career last Friday in Atlanta, but he still carries a hefty 4.71 ERA at home. Still, is seems as though Gray is coming around, and he has proven that he can dominate the Braves. He is worth a look in smaller tournaments.

Zach Eflin has never faced the Pirates, but he has been solid after a disastrous debut against the Blue Jays in which he gave up nine runs in 2.2 innings. Since then, he has only given up 11 earned runs in seven starts. He could be a solid option once again even though he has only had more than three strikeouts in a game once this year (in a complete game against the Braves on July 5th, he struck out six).

Jacob Turner has resurfaced with the White Sox. He has never faced the Tigers, but he was smacked around by the Angels last weekend in his season debut. He gave up eight runs in four innings. Expect a similar result.

For you first time players, if you would like $25 worth of free entry tickets, use this link for the referral bonus! Then continue reading for tips on how to turn that $25 into more!

Next: Pitcher Picks

Best Bets:

Yu Darvish ($11,300): Darvish has owned the Royals in his time in the majors. The Royals are hitting only .137 off of Darvish in 51 at bats with just one extra base hit (an Alex Gordon double) and two runs to go with 14 strikeouts. Darvish has not lasted through six innings yet this season though, so that does limit his ceiling and make me a little nervous about his price.

Tanner Roark ($10,500): Roark draws a Padres team that is hitting just 9-46(.196) against him with ten strikeouts. The bad news is that he has given up seven runs in that span. His strikeout upside is not that of the higher priced pitchers, but the Padres are still not a high scoring team. There could be value here.

Brandon McCarthy ($9,300): The Cardinals are just 12-72(.167) off of McCarthy with 16 strikeouts and four runs in his career. He has also been dominant in three starts so far this year, going 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 0.75 WHIP. He has not gone past six innings yet, but he has not had under six strikeouts either. You are paying for consistency here.

Honorable Mention:

Danny Duffy ($9,700): The Rangers are only hitting .143 against Duffy in 42 at bats with 12 strikeouts. The problem is that he has given up seven runs, which is a pretty high amount. Still, if he is recording outs and strikeouts at that rate, it pretty much erases any damage. It also limits his chances at a win if he cant keep the few baserunners from scoring.

Adam Conley ($9,400): The Mets are a pathetic 8-46(.174) against Conley with 14 strikeouts, just two extra base hits, and no runs. Think about that for a minute: they haven’t scored against him in 46 at bats, which is roughly two starts. David Wright, who has one of the two doubles, is still on the DL. Conley looks like a very strong bet tonight.

Lance McCullers ($8,200): His matchup with Matt Shoemaker is going to scare a lot of people off, but the Angels are only hitting .233 against McCullers in 73 at bats with two homers, five runs, and 15 strikeouts. Shoemaker’s stats against the Astros aren’t great, so McCullers has at least a puncher’s chance at a victory. .

Dark Horses:

Gerrit Cole ($7,400): Cole has dominated the Phillies in his career The Phils are hitting only .209 in 43 at bats with just one extra base hit (a Maikel Franco double) and one run with 12 strikeouts. Cole didn’t look great in his return to the mound on Saturday, but reports say he looked sharper this week. That is bad news for the Phillies.

Julio Teheran ($6,500): Teheran dominated the Rockies last Friday, shutting them out over seven innings in Atlanta. So why is he so cheap? This game is in Coors Field. Still, Teheran has held the Rockies to a .161 average in 87 at bats with just two solo homers (by Ben Paulsen and Charlie Blackmon) and 23 strikeouts. He does have a career 5.40 ERA at Coors Field, but if you are looking to go cheap with a pitching slot, few have Teheran’s history and potential for a 25 point game on DraftKings.

James Paxton ($6,100): It is a small sample size, but the Blue Jays are just 5-28(.179) against Paxton with six strikeouts, but hey have scored four runs. The good news? The owner of the only home run, Chris Colabello, is out. So is Jose Bautista, who is 2-3 against him. If you are looking to live dangerously, Paxton is out there

Logan Verrett ($4,100): Verrett has held the Marlins to a .214 average in 42 at bats wtih just two extra base hits (both doubles) and one run allowed. He has only struck out seven, but with someone this cheap, you can pay for an ace and still stack your lineups. He is a low risk/medium reward candidate tonight.

Next: Who Are The Best Stacks?

You have heard our FanDuel experts Matt Rogers and Brian Tulloch talk about “stacking” pieces of a lineup against certain pitchers. Here are the stacks that could work well on DraftKings today, based on past statistics.

You may want to consider an Oakland stack against Jake Odorizzi. Odorizzi’s ERA is creeping towards 4.5, and a few A’s have hit him well. Coco Crisp ($3,300) is 2-6 with two doubles and two RBI. Khris Davis ($3,800) is only 1-5, but that one hit is a three run home run. Marcus Semien ($3,100) is 3-4 with a double, a homer, and two RBI.

A couple of switch hitters have gotten to Madison Bumgarner. Carlos Beltran ($3,700) is 2-6 with a homer and four RBI off of him. Chase Headley ($2,300) knows MadBum well from his days in San Diego. Headley is 10-33(.303) with four walks, two doubles, three homers, and an impressive 12 RBI against him. Starlin Castro ($2,600) is 11-26(.423) with two doubles and two RBI.

Javier Baez ($3,400) is 3-6 with two RBI against Jimmy Nelson. Anthony Rizzo ($5,600) is only 4-19(.211), but he has a cycle and two RBI. Fortunately for Nelson, Chris Coghlan, Dexter Fowler and Jorge Soler are on the DL. They have combined for three homers and six RBI against him.

Nelson Cruz ($4,100) is an impressive 4-5 with a walk, a double, and a solo homer against Marco Estrada. Chris Iannetta ($2,000) is 2-4 with a solo shot off of him as well. Robinson Cano ($4,700) is only 1-8, but the hit was a two run triple

Next: More Notes For 7-22

Ryan Braun ($3,600) is 8-23(.348) with three walks, a double, two homers, and three RBI off of Jason Hammel. Kirk Nieuwenhuis ($3,100) is 2-6 with a homer and two RBI against Hammel.

Yasmani Grandal ($3,900) only has one hit in five at bats against Michael Wacha, but it is a three run homer. Justin Turner ($4,900) has been hot lately, and is 3-8 with a walk, a double, and a RBI off Wacha.

Jackie Bradley Jr. ($4,800) is 1-4 with a three run homer against Kyle Gibson. Xander Bogaerts ($4,100) is 2-6 with a RBI double.

Albert Pujols ($3,900) is 4-11 with a walk, a double, and a solo homer against Lance McCullers. Mike Trout ($5,300) is only 1-9, but that hit is a two run homer and he has walked twice.

Colby Rasmus ($3,400) is 6-16(.375) with a walk, a double, a homer, and two RBI against Matt Shoemaker. Jose Altuve ($5,200) is 7-17(.412) with two walks, a double and two solo homers against Shoemaker.

Wil Myers ($4,400) hit a home run against Tanner Roark back in June 16th in Petco Park. Can he repeat the performance in Washington?

Manny Machado ($3,700) is 5-8 with a walk, a double, two homers, and three RBI against Trevor Bauer.  Jonathan Schoop ($4,000) is 3-5 with three RBI.

Adrian Beltre ($3,500) is only 1-6 off of Danny Duffy, but that hit is a three run homer and he has walked twice. Delino DeShields ($2,800) is back in the majors. He is 1-2 with a double and two RBI against Duffy.

Brian Dozier ($4,900) clubs left handed pitching, and Eduardo Rodriguez is no exception. Dozier is 2-4 with two walks and a solo homer off of him.

Justin Upton ($) is 3-9 with two solo homers and two walks against former Marlin Jacob Turner. Upton will be glad to see him to see if he can shake the slump.

Be sure to check out the FanDuel picks from out experts in that area! Brian Tulloch provides the picks, while Matt Rogers tells you where to save in his FanDuel Economics articles. Don’t play FanDuel without them!

Next: DFS Strategy - Take Your Game to the Next Level

Good luck out there, and check out our picks for FanDuel baseball!